ventriloquize

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to practice ventriloquism, making one's voice seem to come from another source

   The performer could ventriloquize without visibly moving her lips.

2. 2
   verb

   to utter words or produce a sound in the manner of a ventriloquist

   To ventriloquize the ghost's warning, he projected his voice toward the empty stairwell.

3. 3
   verb

   to speak or write in another person's voice, especially by representing that person's supposed thoughts or words

   The novelist tried to ventriloquize her historical subject without erasing his distinctive outlook.

Formed from ventriloquy + -ize. Ventriloquy ultimately traces to Latin ventriloquus, from venter ("belly") + loqui ("to speak"), reflecting the old belief that the apparently displaced voice came from the speaker's belly.

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